Telecommunication companies are likely to venture into other businesses should the Kenya Information and Communications Amendment Bill, 2019 passed into law.
The bill, which is sponsored by Gem MP Elisha Otieno seek to give telcos green light to start other businesses outside their industry.
According to Nation Media Business news, this move could disrupt several sectors in the economy.
The bill has already been published in the special page of the Kenya Gazette and will only allow telcos to carry out businesses split from their normal communication business.
This will give a leeway for telco giants like Safaricom and Airtel to venture into other business due to their muscular financial stability.
It also seeks to penalize mobile service providers with Ksh 10 fine per call which fails due to network problems.
This means that, subscribers will be refunded Ksh 10 for every 3 calls they make failing via network hitches.
“A licensee is liable to credit a consumer who initiates a call that gets cut out after a connection by Sh10 worth of airtime for each call drop within its network for a maximum of three call drops per day,” read the bill in part.
Mr. Otieno maintains that the bill will ensure telcos offer the best services to subscribers, something the Communication Authority of Kenya has been working on.
The bill will amend the Kenya Information and Communications Act to make provision for quality of service to consumers making calls by compelling licensees to invest in infrastructure that will guarantee quality of service for consumers making calls,” said Mr. Otieno.
